Lawmakers Oppose House Emissions Plan

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., right, accompanied by Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass. gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, June 1, 2007 to discuss global warming. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) (Susan Walsh - AP)

"How many different regulators are we going to be confronted with?" Dingell asked.

His position is backed by auto companies that fear they would be forced to build different cars and trucks to comply with a variety of conflicting regulations.

"This industry cannot survive with 50 different standards or a dozen different standards or five different standards," said Dave McCurdy, president of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers.

Some lawmakers said the proposal would attempt to overturn the findings of a Supreme Court decision in April that said the EPA has the authority to regulate greenhouse gases from cars and trucks.

But supporters said it would preserve the ability of states to regulate toxic air pollutants from motor vehicles and would only affect fuel economy and carbon dioxide emissions.

The auto industry has readied to fight a Senate plan, expected to be considered next week, that would require fuel efficiency standards to rise to 35 mpg by 2020. The industry appeared to be more open to the House version.

McCurdy said the House proposal represented "the largest technology challenge automakers have ever encountered" but said the industry would back reasonable fuel economy increases.

Alan Reuther, legislative director for the United Auto Workers, said his union was supportive of the increases under the House plan. He called it "technologically and economically feasible for the auto manufacturers."